dream is to regard every image in the dream as an alienated part of the self which we have projected onto that image. The dreamer is asked to act the part of each image and to experience the events of the dream from the standpoint of each. Encounters are then conducted between the images, and, when they fight, the dreamer knows that he has hit on something important. Whenever the mind goes blank or the dreamer feels sleepy, he knows he is trying to avoid something. The aim of the encounters is to bring the fragmented parts of the personality into harmony so that they help, not hinder, growth.

As a first step, Peris asked the dreamer to tell his dream in the first person/present tense, in order to bring it into the here-and-now and to reexperience the actual feeling of the dream. This is what we would like you to do when told to begin. First, here is an example of a dream told in the present tense:

"I'm sleepy and I hear somebody screaming and I wake up and these cops are beating up some kid. I wanted to get up and help him but somebody is standing at the head and at the foot of my bed, and they're throwing pillows back and forth—faster and faster—and I can't move my head, I can't get up."

Now you tell your dream into the microphone.

Now that you have told your dream, choose anything in the dream, an object or a person, and become that image. Do not talk about the image—BECOME IT. For example, if the dream about the policeman beating the child was your own, you could play the part of the policeman and talk to the child like this:

Policeman: All right, kid. We caught you now and you're gonna go to jail. No more of your B.S. You're gonna go right to the reform school. You think you're getting away with a heck of a lot, but you're not getting away with anything. You have to serve your time and be a good citizen and not foul up so much.

If you are comfortable with this, try to begin an encounter, bringing your dream back to life. To continue with our example, you might become the child and respond to the policeman:

Kid: I just wanted to ... to belong. I just wanted to be a part of the gang. I didn't want to hurt anybody. I just wanted to be a part of people. I wanted to belong to the crowd. I just wanted to be accepted by them. That's all.

And then the policeman might answer: